Sunday, August 17, 2014

Coaching
five year old soccer players is quite interesting. I tried to structure
practices so that every child had fun while getting lots of touches on the ball.
We played a lot of tag, chase, and keep
away games in which every child dribbled their own soccer ball throughout most
of the games in order to improve their dribbling ability.

Sharks and Minnows
was one of the players’ favorite games. In Sharks and Minnows, most of the kids
(playing the role of minnows) stood at one end of a rectangle with soccer balls
while a player or two stood at the other end as sharks. The sharks would yell, “Are
you ready to get eaten?” The minnows would yell back “Never!” (Trash talk at an
early age!) Then the minnows would each try to dribble their ball from one end
to the other without getting eaten by the sharks. Being eaten was defined as
having your soccer ball taken or kicked away from you.

The kids
loved it and I was pleased that they developed ball control skills and even
tactical awareness as they dribbled around and avoided other players with sudden
bursts of speed and movements into open space.

Finding the Bright Spots

At first,
only a few players had much ball control. “Finding the bright spots” led to
improved dribbling by all the players.

When one
player did a particularly good job as a minnow, dribbling the ball from one
side of the rectangle to the other, I would stop play very briefly and ask the
other players what that particular minnow had done to be so successful. One
strategy they would identify is that a player – a minnow - was able to keep
control of the soccer ball, without sharks stealing it, because he or she kept
the ball close to their feet. As a coach, I might need to ask leading questions
to get them to “find the bright spot” but they would get it, they would say,
“No one could steal the ball from Johnny because he kept it close to their
feet.”

Chip and Dan
Heath explain how finding the bright spots provides both guidance and
inspiration. In their book regarding leadership, entitled Switch: How to
Change Things When Change is Hard, they explain that finding the bright
spots helps provide both guidance and inspiration, appealing to players hearts
and minds.

As a soccer
coach, I provided guidance by focusing attention on the importance of dribbling
with the ball close to your feet. This guidance showed players what to do
during the next round of Sharks and Minnows.

Focusing on
the bright spots also spoke to the hearts of my 5 year-old soccer players, providing
inspiration. We were celebrating that little Lexi and little Bryce had dribbled
all the way from one end of the rectangle to the other without anyone stealing
their soccer balls. As we cheered the minnows who had made it to the other end
of the field, the message was, “This is amazing and you can do it too if you
dribble with the soccer ball close to your feet.”

The Leadership Challenge

My challenge
to you as a teacher, principal, or superintendent is two part: focus on the
bright spots where you work; and engage others in finding the bright spots. As
you do so, you will provide guidance and inspiration. You will speak to others’
hearts and minds.

“Name it,
claim it, explain it” is one example of finding the bright spots. @BarbBlackburn
shared it with me via Twitter years ago. Barb suggests that when you visit a
teacher’s classroom, take a photo, audio recording, or video recording of a
bright spot. At a faculty meeting, share the photo or an excerpt of the
recording and ask the teacher whose classroom you visited to stand up, name the
activity, claim it (and identify any colleagues who helped create it), and
explain the lesson. “Name it, claim it, explain it” effectively provides both
guidance and inspiration. Details are provided in this article.

What are
your ideas for finding the bright spots?

Finding the Bright Spots throughout a
Division

In my first
weeks as Superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, I have started to
engage others in identifying bright spots. In a division with a strong
tradition of excellence, this has been relatively easy, but important.

In order to
sustain and build on the excellence of a school or school division, we need to be
explicit regarding what we want to sustain. As my daughter put it, what should
we avoid messing up? A solid understanding of our bright spots provides a
strong foundation for building on excellence by continuing to learn, grow, and
improve.

Many people
have already helped identify bright spots: high school students participating
in Leadership Loudoun youth, new administrators attending orientation, and
leaders at the Administrative Leadership Team institute. Through small group
discussions and twitter conversations, we are identifying bright spots that can
help inform the creation of a strategic plan for our schools.

Finding
bright spots also provides joy. When I recall the five year-olds I coached, I
can think of numerous players who still love the game of soccer.I believe that focusing on the bright spots
contributed to their love of the game. Thus, as we engage others in finding the
bright spots, not only will we provide guidance and inspiration, we will help
others find joy in their work. Here is my wish for you as we start a new school
year:

This post is based on my remarks at Loudoun County's Administrative Leadership Team Institute on August 5, 2014.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Consider a One
to the World initiative. Rather than labelling connectivity initiatives as 1:1
or Bring-Your-Own-Technology initiatives, consider framing them as One to the World.*#1toWorld

By connecting students globally, a One to the World initiative would
improve the quality and amplify the impact of the work of students as they
master the content and competencies of the curriculum. Eight tweets from April
and May illustrate how One to the World improves
the quality and amplifies the impact of student work.

Four of the tweets illustrate that One to the World provides students with
the connectivity to the tools and information they need.

Tweet #2

Tweet #1: A 2nd grade student works on
writing a book that she will publish for peers, parents, and others to read.
She uses a school-owned device to access an app to improve the quality of her
work.

Tweet #2: This tweet captures middle school English
students creating digital public service announcements to raise awareness and
money to stop elephant poaching. After extensive research, students used their
own devices AND school-owned devices to download content, access video editing
software, create public service announcements, and post them on the internet
for a global audience.

﻿

﻿

Tweet #3

﻿

Tweet #3: High school students at a poetry jam use
their phones to access and to read aloud poems they wrote and saved to the
cloud.

﻿﻿

Tweet #4: After reading Wonder, which tells
of the heroics of Auggie, a boy with a facial deformity, 5th grade
students wanted to connect with an expert. They arranged to Skype with a
student with the same type of facial deformity.

Tweet #4

Note that these tweets vary in terms of whether
students use school-owned and/or personal devices. The connectivity of One to the World is important, not
whether the connectivity is provided through a 1:1 or BYOT initiative.
#1toWorld

Two tweets reflect that One to the World initiatives connect students with a global
audience.

﻿

Tweet #5

Tweet #5: Three students worked to raise money and
awareness relating to hunger and to collect food and other items for local
shelters. They used personal and school-owned devices to access wifi to send
tweets. One to the World allowed
students to reach an audience that they wanted to inspire to take action i.e. donate
food, clothing.

Tweet #6

Tweet #6: High school calculus students created
tutorials and posted them on the internet for anytime, anywhere access by peers
and others. In this case, One to the
World allowed students to connect to an audience they wanted to teach.

Two final tweets show how One to the World initiatives connect students with people with
whom they can collaborate.

Tweet #7

Tweet #7 Two middle school students access one of
their phones to read an email from the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals. The email responds to questions students asked as they develop an
action plan relating to cruelty to animals.

Tweet #8 Students join three other classes from
around the nation in holding a Skype session with Hilary and Chelsea Clinton
regarding their #NoCeilings initiative related to barriers girls and women face
around the world in terms of education, health care, and economic opportunity.
Not only does Chelsea publicly announce that she is pregnant during this Skype
call, but the participants share ideas regarding breaking through the﻿

Tweet #8

ceilings
discussed in the call.

Five key reasons exist for using the One to the World framework, rather than
1:1 or Bring-Your-Own-Technology.

1.One to the World does
not suggest that technology or connectivity is an end in and of itself. The
goal is to improve the quality and impact of student work as they learn the
content and competencies of the curriculum. Note that in each of the examples
featured in the tweets, the work of students was not fluff. Learning the
content and competencies of the curriculum, whether that involves research,
Calculus, or writing, was the heart of the lessons.

2.One to the World emphasizes
that our focus in on connecting every student globally to tools, information,
an audience for their work, and people with whom to collaborate. Rather than
emphasizing one student, the emphasis is on communities, whether that is a
sense of community within the school or a local, regional, or global community.

3.One to the World doesn’t
assume that people use just one device. When given the opportunity, people use
different devices at different times. They might use a smart phone one moment,
a netbook the next, and a desktop computer later on.

4.One to the World doesn’t
assume that all students will use the same device. People naturally work
alongside one another while using a variety of devices.

5.With
One to the World, we can focus on
equity, on equitable access, not on who provides the device. It may make the
most sense to create a plan for launching One
to the World that relies on both school-owned and student-owned devices.

With
a One to the World initiative, significant
implementation questions exist relating to capacity building. For example,

·What
technology infrastructure is needed?

·What
policy and procedural infrastructure is needed?

·How
should we reallocate/obtain the resources needed to support One to the World?

·How
many devices should be purchased by the district? What devices should be
purchased by the district?

The
most important questions, however, relate to teaching, professional learning,
and leadership. For example,

·As
Alan November has asked, “How can we build capacity for all of our teachers to
share best practices with colleagues in their school and around the world?”

·How
can teachers design high quality work that engages students in using the
connectivity of One to the World in
order to master the content and competencies of the curriculum?

What are your thoughts regarding these questions? Also, what are examples of how your students have connected with the tools, information, audience, and people with whom to collaborate in order to improve the quality and amplify the impact of their work?Answering these questions will be incredibly
rewarding. Let’s get started!

*I first heard the phrase One to the World from Alan November in 2012. I published a blogpost regarding this phrase in November, 2012. Alan November published an
article on this topic in January, 2013.Related Blog Post:Top 10 #EdTech Posts

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

We’ve
already had five snow days this year. Some people enjoyed the first few days,
but with another storm approaching we decided we’ve had enough.

Click here
to view the 6-second “Snow No”Dance that I did this morning with the teachers
at Seaford Elementary School. It will be obvious that we spent no time on choreography
or rehearsal. This clearly was a one-take effort.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Would reducing the number of state exams
undercut student learning? Would teachers stop teaching what is no longer tested
until a future grade level? Would learning suffer because teachers receive achievement
data from fewer state tests?

No. No. And no.

Let’s look at the
third grade Social Studies exams in Virginia to illustrate why. Currently,
Virginia’s third grade students take state exams in reading, math, science, and
Social Studies. Proposals winning widespread support in the state legislature
would remove the third grade tests in science and social studies (among other
exams in grades 3 to 8), while retaining the tests in these areas at later
grade levels.

Reducing the number of state exams would
support effective Social Studies instruction because the large number of state
exams can lead to an approach where teachers just try to race through
presenting an endless stream of facts without sparking student interest or deep
understanding. Reducing the number of SOL exams would allow for more in-depth
instruction and deeper, longer lasting learning.

The Ponce De Leon team makes its pitch!

The Sail
Away with Me project taught by the third grade team at Seaford Elementary
School illustrates that deep, long-lasting learning of important content and
skills often occurs in spite (not because) of state exams. Playing the role of
an explorer with access to modern technology, students create an iMovie
commercial. They seek to persuade aspiring explorers to travel with them to the
New World by sharing the successes and achievements that they had on previous
voyages. Because they want to create compelling videos for their peers,
students commit themselves more fully to learning about Columbus, Ponce de
Leon, Cartier and Newport.

Students in each class signed up to join one of the explorers. Check out some of the results below. Here is the video that garnered the most enlistments.

Important content is at the heart of
this project. This is not content-lite. This project addresses third grade
state standards relating to History, English, and Writing.

The assessment data provided by this
project is much more useful for modifying instruction than the information
provided by a state exam. The teachers don’t have to wait until summer for
results. They immediately gain important assessment data regarding student
strengths and weaknesses that helps them adjust instruction now. For example,
the teachers used a rubric to assess the English and Writing standards involved
with this project.

Unfortunately, many teachers hesitate
to teach this or other in-depth projects because they believe they don’t have
time for deep learning when they need to prepare students for so many state
exams. Reducing the number of statewide exams will help teachers realize that
they can teach projects such as Sail Away
with Me. The state standards will then
be taught in a much more engaging, effective manner. And then students will be even
better prepared for Social Studies state exams in future years, even if they
don’t have a Social Studies exam in third grade.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Here are the
top ten Promoting Student Engagement blog
posts relating to the use of #Edtech. Following the top ten list with
descriptions, you’ll find the posts sorted by topic (vision, leadership, and
BYOT/1:1).

Let’s co-opt
the power of creating digital stories for a global audience. As educators, let’s
give students opportunities to create, not just consume, digital stories. Check
out this fun post just to see preschoolers, teachers, and senior citizens doing
the Harlem Shake.

Friday, January 17, 2014

“Remember that you are the
someone in the phrase ‘Somebody ought to do something about that.’ Each of you.
Me too. We are all the someone who needs to take action.” (Ghost Dog Secrets
by Peg Kehret)

What can we
do to change the lives of animals? Teams of sixth grade students at Tabb Middle
School had just a few minutes to make their pitch regarding which
animal-related causes the sixth grade should select as a focus. As parents and
community members circulated in the gym and cafeteria, each group of students
articulated a critical issue involving animals and proposed a plan of action. The
animal related causes included puppy mills, dog fighting, a shortage of service
dogs and a variety of other topics. These and other causes were pitched to visitors
who each cast multiple votes for which cause should be selected as a focus for
the entire sixth grade.

The students
of Cindy Evans (cindyevans66), Nancy Hehir (HehirNancy), Rebecca Karatsikis
(BeckyKaratsikis), and Kelley Payne (@grayfin77) each read Ghost Dog Secrets
by Peg Kehret. The novel focuses on a boy who wants to rescue a dog that is
being abused while his class at school focuses on helping dogs rescued from a
puppy mill. After reading the novel, students investigated animal-related
causes of their choice. They researched the issues, relevant laws, measures
being taken to address the issues, and developed proposed action plans.

Check out
this video created by
Jennifer Thomas (@JennThomas75) inviting parents and other community members to
the Action for Animal Awareness Community Night.

This event
illustrates four reasons to exhibit student work.

1.Increase Student Engagement

Students felt great ownership of their work because they wanted to make a
difference and they knew their work would have an audience beyond their
teachers. One student explained, “I liked this project because I knew I was
actually helping and not just doing it for a grade.” Another student commented,
“I like making a difference. I worked hard because I wanted my project to be
chosen as one that all of 6th grade will work on.” As one teacher tweeted, “I
loved that students were so involved and invested in it.”

2.Increase Student Learning of Significant
Content

This was not a fluff project. Significant content and skills were at the
heart of this project-based learning. Students learned skills required by state
standards, such as “the student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a
variety of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction, and poetry” and “the student
will find, evaluate, and select appropriate resources for a research project.”

Students experienced great success in meeting these standards because
they were compelled to prepare for the exhibition and to work to address an
authentic problem. Their academic success was obvious at the exhibition. As one
community member observed in an e-mail, “I cannot believe that these were sixth
grade students. . . I asked many questions and could not believe that they
answered with no hesitation. These students sounded as if they had studied
animal laws for years. . . I was totally blown away that these young students
are now so knowledgeable of the animal laws and problems. . . This is the type of
project that these students will remember for years to come.”

3.Promote a Shared Instructional Vision
Among Staff Members

The energy level was through the roof at the exhibition. Not only were
students and parents energetic, but teachers and administrators were incredibly
enthusiastic. They were appropriately proud of their students. They already
were speaking of changes they would make next year so that the project would be
even more successful.

Given the positive experience of the exhibition, the 6th grade
teachers are more committed to our instructional vision of providing students
transformative learning experiences in which they learn the content and skills
of the curriculum while making a difference locally, nationally, or globally.
Because of the high profile success of this exhibition, our vision of
transformative learning is more likely to be embraced by other teachers in our
district. Exhibitions can help schools and districts scale up effective
instructional practices by showcasing these practices.

4.Develop Parent-Ownership of an
Instructional Vision

Exhibitions provide parents with insight into the instructional vision of
a school or district. This expanded understanding is crucial for generating
support for initiatives. Too often parents view projects as fluff. John
Larmer and John Mergendoller of the Buck Institute for Education emphasize
the importance of distinguishing main course “project based learning (PBL) from
the short duration and intellectually lightweight activities and projects to
many classrooms.” Exhibitions of substantive student projects help parents make
this distinction. Furthermore, because of this exhibition, parents are more
likely to support our School
Board’s call for changes in state assessments and accountability.

5.Experience the Joy of Teaching and
Learning

Exhibitions are hard work, but they are also joyful. In an era of
high-stakes testing, exhibitions provide teachers and students with the joy of
teaching and learning.

The votes are in! The parents and
community members at the student exhibition selected elephant poaching as the
cause on which students will focus. The students are narrowing down their
fundraising ideas and plan to hold several small events this semester with a
culminating awareness and fundraising event in May. The team of sixth grade
students that made the successful pitch for this cause included Gracie Cannon,
Kaylyn Rivera and Gracie Roberts. These students understand the phrase from Ghost
Dog Secrets that one group of students displayed at the exhibition: “We are
the someone!”

Here is the project
overview that Cindy Evans created with assistance from her colleagues after
attending a PBL101 workshop presented by the Buck Institute for Education.